Dai
A masculine Japanese name meaning "great" or "generation".
Name Census estimates that about 201 living Americans carry the first name Dai. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Dai today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dai births was 2000 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dai. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dai with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
201
~ 1 in 1,705,245 Americans
Peak year
2000
13 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2015 SSA rank
#9,766
Tracked since 1976
Census
Dai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,221 people with the first name Dai, which placed it at #7,019 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,019
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,221 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dai is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.2%) and White (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dai described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.7% · 1,925
- Black or African American5.2% · 115
- White4.3% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 49
- Two or more races1.2% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Dai
Dai is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 207 total registrations, 122 (58.9%) were male and 85 (41.1%) were female.
Dai as a male name
- Ranked #9,766 in 2015
- 7 male births in 2015
- Peak: 1985 (12 births)
Dai as a female name
- Ranked #13,823 in 2020
- 6 female births in 2020
- Peak: 1999 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dai on both sides of the split. Of the 2,210 people counted with this name, 1,504 were male (68.1%) and 706 were female (31.9%).
Popularity
Dai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dai from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 50 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dai by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dais live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dai
The name Dai has its origins in the Welsh language, with roots dating back to ancient Celtic times. It is derived from the Welsh word "dai," which means "to shine" or "radiant." This name is thought to have been used as early as the 5th century AD in Wales and other parts of the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dai can be found in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional Welsh folklore and history from the Middle Ages. The Triads mention a legendary figure named Dai Ddu, meaning "Dai the Black," who was said to be a powerful warrior and protector of the ancient Britons.
In the 12th century, the name Dai gained prominence with the birth of Dai ap Gruffydd, a Welsh prince and military leader who fought against the Norman invaders of Wales. He is remembered for his bravery and his efforts to preserve Welsh independence.
During the Renaissance period, the name Dai was borne by several notable figures in Welsh literature and culture. One of the most famous was Dai Siôn Siencyn (c. 1450-1515), a renowned Welsh poet and bard who composed many works celebrating the Welsh language and traditions.
In the 19th century, the name Dai became closely associated with the Welsh working class and industrial communities. Dai Smith (1846-1920) was a prominent Welsh trade unionist and socialist who fought for workers' rights and better living conditions in the coal mining regions of South Wales.
Another historically significant figure with the name Dai was Dai Greatcoat (1899-1967), a Welsh soldier who served in World War I and became renowned for his acts of bravery on the battlefield. He was awarded the Military Medal for his courage and leadership.
While the name Dai has its roots in Welsh culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in regions with strong Celtic or British influences. However, its historical significance and cultural connections remain deeply rooted in the traditions and history of Wales.
People
Dai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dai as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 201 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dai going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,705,245 US residents.
Is Dai a common name?
We classify Dai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dai most popular?
The single biggest year for Dai was 2000, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dai is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,221 people with the name Dai, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,019 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dai in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dai?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dai on both sides of the split. Of the 2,210 people counted with this name, 1,504 were male (68.1%) and 706 were female (31.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dai is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.2%) and White (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dai most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Dai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.7% (1,925 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dai a male name?
Yes, 58.9% of people registered as Dai in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dai in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dai can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Dai?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.